There are numerous applications that pose an increasing demand on high speed underwater wireless telemetry and data communication among sensors, autonomous underwater vehicles, moored instruments, and surface ships. Examples include real-time remote monitoring of underwater tools/constructions and environmental factors in offshore oil industry, continuous observation of the ocean phenomena over geographically large areas, fishery industry, etc., as well as many naval and security applications such as harbor monitoring systems, tactical surveillance operations, and so on. However, the data rates that existing systems offer are much lower than what is required for real-time transmission of massive amount of data such as video and telemetry signals, specially over medium and long distances.
Over the past few decades, only the scalar component of the acoustic field, i.e., the acoustic pressure, has been used for data transmission in underwater channels. More specifically, data have been modulated over single or multiple spatially-separated scalar sensors and pressure channels.